By Palo Pinto County Emergency Services District #1
From CPR at Sutherlands to ICU care in Fort Worth, teamwork saved Terry Matthews’ life.
Terry Matthews doesn’t remember hitting the ground at the register inside Sutherlands in Mineral Wells. One minute, he was talking to his son—wishing him a happy birthday—and the next, he collapsed.
“I said, ‘I think I’m okay… actually, I don’t think so.’ And I just went down,” Matthews recalled.
That ordinary trip for building materials for the 54-year old Millsap man turned into a race against time. After suffering cardiac arrest, Matthews was resuscitated again and again—coding 11 times throughout the day, according to his wife and the care team.
His son quickly grabbed a nitroglycerin tablet from his dad’s pocket—something his mother had coached him to do in case of emergency. Family, store staff, and bystanders began CPR until help arrived.
Sacred Cross EMS paramedics Melissa Potter and Chase West, along with Mineral Wells Fire Department, took over Matthews care at the scene.
“When I saw him, I knew him,” Potter said. “And some of those are the hardest to deal with.”
Matthews had just recovered from a weeks long stay in Medical City Weatherford for having two stents placed after doctors found 100% blockage in his widowmaker artery. He had returned to work and was feeling better—until that moment at the register.
“I just want to thank y’all,” West said during a recent reunion with Matthews six months after the incident. “It’s an honor to be invited here today. Mineral Wells Fire was there too—I want to give them props. We couldn’t have done it without a great partner, a great team—and with God’s help, too.”
Matthews was stabilized at Palo Pinto General Hospital, then flown to Medical City Weatherford. After initial interventions, he was transferred again—this time to Medical City Fort Worth.
He spent 10 days in the hospital.
Through it all, Sacred Cross EMS stayed involved. Potter even stopped by in Fort Worth to check on him.
“She said, ‘Terry, we don’t usually get to see patients in your condition a second time,’” Matthews said. “It was unbelievable how many people came to visit. I never would’ve thought that.”
At a standing-room-only reunion hosted by Medical City Weatherford, Matthews and his family—his wife, daughter, and grandbaby—reunited with the team who brought him back.
“Please, just don’t let me die before I get to see my wife and my kids one more time,” he remembered saying. “That’s all I wanted.”
“I would have never thought y’all would keep trying that hard—but you did,” he said. “Now I get to see my grandbaby. I’ve got another one on the way.”
Medical City leaders praised the coordination that began with Sacred Cross EMS, Mineral Wells Fire, and Palo Pinto County responders—and continued through every level of care into Parker and then Tarrant County.
“This story started in Palo Pinto County,” the hospital Medical City Weatherford’s CEO said. “Our mission is the care and improvement of human life—and this is that mission in action.”
Potter added, “People always say, ‘I don’t know how you do it in the field.’ But I don’t know how they do it in the hospital. We’re just a small part. Our job is to get them to people like them.”
Matthews says the experience changed everything and according to his family, he stopped drinking and wants to go to church.
“You never know when tomorrow might be your last,” he said. “But I’m still here. And it’s because of them.”
